Means for handling ammunition



Dec. 18, 1945. G. w. voN HOFE ET AL 2,391,081

MEANS FOR HANDLING AMMUNITION Filed Nov. 17, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN T H. mm

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIH Patented Dec. 18, 1945 MEANS FOR HANDLINGAMMUNITION George W. von Hofe, Bound Brook, N. J., and Eino E. Lakso,Fitchburg, Mass, assignors to New Jersey Machine Corporation, Hoboken,N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application November 17, 1942, SerialNo. 465,846

1 Claim.

The invention relates to methods of and means for handling ammunitionand more particularly ammunition in the form of cartridges for varioustypes of firearms.

The object of the invention is to provide a novel method whereby thehandling of the indicated type of ammunition is greatly simplified andwhereby many of the handling steps necessary'in existing methods areentirely eliminated with consequent savings in manpower and equipmentcost.

The invention contemplates further a novel method whereby the handlingof the ammunition is effected with maximum efiiciency and with a savingin transportation and storage space and without requiring the use ofcritical materials or commodities.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel method ofhandling the indicated ammunition in a manner to simplify and improvethe feeding thereof to customary or clip loaders whether this step takesplace at a manufacturing arsenal or at a plant distant therefrom.

The invention further has for its object the provision of novel meanswhereby the novel method may be carried out with efiiciency and withminimum manpower and equipment.

Other objects will appear from the description hereinafter and thefeatures of novelty will be pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate examples .of the inventionwithout defining its limits,

Fig. 1 is a face view of the novel handling means in its initial stage;

Fig. 2 is a corresponding view of said handling means at a subsequentstage;

- Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2; p

F 4 is a transverse section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the novel method.

In carrying out the novel method of handl ng ammunition in the form ofcartridges, a plurality of cartridges a, for instance, from aconventional loading machine I) are assembled in parallel alignment, andare removably fixed in this arrangement preferably upon the novelhandling means 0 to be described hereinafter, and in any case so thatthe plurality of cartridges a may be readily manipulated as a unit. Theremovable fixing of the cartridges a upon the novel handlin meanspreferably is effected at d by means of a novel cartridge tape machinewhich forms the subject matter of a separate patent application.

The handling means 0 with the plurality of cartridges or temporarilyfixed thereon is then conveyed and delivered to a gage and weigh machinee of customary form where the cartridges a are removed from the handlingmeans 0 for gaging and weighing. The conveying of the handling means 0with the cartridges 0. removably fixed thereon may be carried out byso-called tote-wagons f which may also be used for storing the loadedhandling means 0, as diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 5.

After having been gaged and weighed, the cartridges a in parallelalignment are rolled over a pathway g which may comprise a suitableconveyer, for visual inspection to discover any defects which may existin said cartridges a. At this point cartridges (1 may be periodicallyremoved and placed, for instance, in a tray h having numbered pockets,for inspection by an ofiicial, such as a government inspector. As anexample, every one hundredth cartridge a may be removed from the pathwayg and placed in the tray h. Those cartridges a which traverse thepathway g are again removably fixed in parallel alignment on thehandling means 0 at d, for instance, by means of another of the novelcartridge tape machines previously referred to.

The handling means 0 with the cartridges u again removably fixed thereonmay then be stored for instance in a tote-wagon f similar to thetote-wagon f, to await the approval of the inspector of the samplecartridges :1 at g. Subsequent to such approval, the handling means cwith the cartridges a removably fixed thereon is delivered, forinstance, by means of the tote-wagon f to the packing station i forpacking in cases and then to the waxing unit It for ultimate delivery tothe field arsenal. Or the cartridge loaded handling means 0 is conveyed,for instance, by means of the tote-wagon f, directly to clip loadingmachines l or to a machine gun belt loader m for direct loading into gunclips or into machine gun belts respectively.

While the handling means 0 utilized in carrying out the novel method maybe of any suitable type. it is preferred to employ the novel handlingmeans illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, for this purpose.

The aforesaid novel handling means comprises a tape Ill preferably madeof suitable paper such as for instance tough kraft paper, which ismoisture resistant, although other types of material may conveniently besubstituted if preferred.

The tape l may be of any desired or convenient length and width and inany case has its opposite longitudinal edges preferably reinforced, forinstance, by being folded upon itself as indicated at H to providelongitudinal strengthening strips l2. The latter may be fastened insurface engagement with the tape ID by pasting or otherwise, and in someinstances may be simply folded over into unattached surface relation tosaid tape As an example, the tape It] may be made of ninety pound paperand have an original width of two and one half inches, with the infoldededge strips l2 having a width for instance of approximately of an incheach. It will be understood that these dimensions are not arbitrarilyrequired,

and that they may vary in dependence upon the nature and calibre of theammunition for which a given tape is designed.

The tape I0 is provided with two parallel spaced rows of slits l3 and I3 extending longitudinally thereof in tandem relation with the slits I3staggered relatively to the slits l3 Co-operating slits i 4 are locatedin tandem arrangement lengthwise of the tape in symmetrically spacedregistry with the slits l3 and corresponding slits I l are located inspaced symmetrical registry with the slits I3 As shown in Fig. 1, theslits i3 and l3 are located along the central portion of the tape I0while the slits l 4 and Id are located in proximity to the inner edgesof the respective infolded edge strips In practice cartridges is areinserted through the slits l3 and M of each registering pair of slitswith the bullets of said cartridges pointing in one direction.Corresponding cartridges I 5 are inserted through the slits l3 and I lof each given pair with the bullets of said cartridges pointing forinstance in the opposite direction as shown in Fig. 2. To facilitatethis operation of inserting the cartridges, the sections of the tapelocated between each pair of slits l3 and I4, and [3 and Hi may beforced in alternate opposite directions outwardly beyond the normalsurface plane of the tape in to form loops for the reception of thecartridges l5 and l5 as shown in Fig. 3. In any case, the tape HI passesover and under the cartridges and securely holds them in position inpredetermined parallel alignment and removably fixes said cartridges inthis arrangement on the tape it). This alignment is maintainedthroughout the handling of a given supply of cartridges from the stageat which the cartridges are loaded, to the point at which saidcartridges are fed to belt or clip loaders whether at a manufacturingarsenal or at a distant point. The cartridges also remain in alignmentfor transport-packing or while stored and reduce the handling of saidcartridges to the simplest operation.

Under existing conditions the cartridges are required to be unscrambleda number of times in the operation of handling said ammunition. Forinstance, every time a tote-wagon is used, the cartridges are in ajumbled mass and must be realigned for the next operation. Obviously a,maximum of manpower is required in these tedious unscramblings of thetote-wagon contents. All of this manpower and all of the manual effortrequired in these operations is saved with the novel cartridge tape,which in addition avoids damaging of cartridges by avoiding the steps ofcarrying the cartridges in a jumbled mass in the tote-wagons atsuccessive intervals.

With the novel handling means or cartridge tape unnecessary machinery iseliminated. For instance, a high speed fabric machine gun belt loaderrequires hoppers to deliver cartridges at uniform rate of speed and alsoneeds sorting rolls to align said cartridges. When however the novelcartridge tape is used, a simple extractor is all that is requiredinstead of the aforesaid mechanisms.

It will be noted that the tapes H! with the cartridges l5 and |5 inplace thereon may be folded back and forthinto the tote-wagons in anorderly arrangement, enabling said cartridge tape with the cartridgesthereon to be easily withdrawn from the tote-wagons as this may berequired.

The novel tape also facilitates the packing of the cartridges incontainers for shipping purposes. In such case, for instance, cartridgetapes containing 338 cartridges may be packed two to the standardcontainer in such a manner that the tapes serve as partitions betweencartridges so that cartridge partitions now required are eliminated andthe capacity of said standard container is thereby materially.increased. Under existing practice such standard container might hold480 rounds of ammunition, while the same container with the novelcartridge tape will accommodate 676 rounds of such ammunition.

The novel cartridge tape may be produced at low cost and withoutrequiring any particular skill on the part of the operators either inproducing the tape or in placing the cartridges in position thereon. I v

Various changes in the specific forms shown and described may be madewithin the scope of the claim without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

We claim:

.A handling means for cartridge ammunition comprising a single flexibletape provided with two spaced parallel inner rows of elongated slitstransversely staggered in overlapping relation to each other, and ofpredetermined individual di--' mensions lengthwise of the tape, and twoouter rows of elongated slits individually of lesser di mensionslengthwise of the tape, the shorter slits in the outer rows being intransverse centralized registry with the slits of the respective innerrows to provide cooperating pairs of transversely reg istering loopsextending in spaced parallel rows lengthwise of the tape, thecooperating pairs of slits-in the associated inner and outer rows beingin staggered relation to thecooperating pairs of slits in the otherassociated'inner and outer rows whereby the cooperating pairs of loopsin the respective rows are correspondingly staggered relatively to eachother, and cartridges extending transversely through the pairs ofcooperating loops alternately in reversed position and removably fixedtherein on said tape.

